James Roosevelt, who was chair of the Rules and Bylaws Committee that decided to dock Michigan and Florida half of their delegates and award 4 of the delegates Clinton won in Michigan to Obama, as well as all of the uncommitted delegates, is the CEO of a health insurance company – Tufts Healthcare. Okay

I remember reading at B0botland the ecstatic if incredulous reactions at the RBC ruling. The header on that was

IT’S HIS PARTY!

They sure were right about that. It was Obama’s and Insurance CEO’s party – it definitely didn’t belong to its members anymore.

Basement Angel again

The guy who made sure that Obama had the necessary to delegates to win the nomination – even to the point of assigning delegates another candidate won to him arbitrarily – is the CEO of a health insurance firm.

James Roosevelt Jr. of Massachusetts, cochairman of the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee, said in an interview with the Globe that he doubts there will be a resolution of the standoff without the states devising do-over contests to be held before June 10.

and

Roosevelt, asked whether the party might yield to a compromise to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations that did not include another contest approved by the Democratic National Committee, said: “As long as it could affect the outcome, [there’s] no chance of that.”

Someone was vested in the outcome, and in a position to manipulate it. And the money quote

“If there is simply a caving on this, we’ll end up with primaries on Halloween, and so that does at least counter some of the purely political campaign influences here,” said Roosevelt, who is also chief executive officer of Tufts Health Plan of Massachusetts.

Back in December 2008, I was quoting Boston Globe noting that Insurers were drafting HCR. It’s only now that I recognize the name of that drafter

“The heart of our proposal is a public-private partnership that builds on the employer-based coverage that 170 million Americans rely on today,”said James Roosevelt, Jr., the president and CEO of Tufts Health Plans, in a press conference held at the National Press Club. “We have laid out a workable, realistic path to universal coverage…. We want to make sure no one falls thorugh the cracks of our health care system because of age, health status or income.”

Oh, and if you wonder, what they wrote then is exactly what’s in Obama’s bill today

Insurers oppose the creation of a Medicare-style public insurance option, which both President-elect Barack Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus have proposed, which they believe will force private companies to compete with government on an uneven playing field. The insurers also do not support an employer mandate.

The advocates of a government-run plan claim that it will control costs. I am not convinced. The allure of a government-run health plan is distracting and unproven, and brings a high risk of unintended consequences such as reducing competition and consumer choice. Moreover, even if a government-run plan could be designed in a way that preserves choice for most Americans, it would delay the start of universal coverage for years.

Interestingly enough, in his signature, his RBC chairmanship is not disclosed. All it says is

James Roosevelt Jr. is president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan and co-chair of the policy committee of America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Oh, and there was this delicious scrubbed article at Boston Globe – you can still read the headline in the url

The event itself was a hybrid of a news conference (with the public instead of reporters) and a White House social event.

It was a diverse group of health care providers, insurers, policy experts, medical/nursing students, human resources representatives, business people, and others from all walks of life and political points of view, all invited because we each have a vested interest in the final shape and success of a national health plan.

.So, please spare us phoney PR wars, we know you stole an election together to push this abomination on us. You stole it to get the American people to buy your corrupt services. It’s as simple as that. You stole my vote so you can steal my money.

The Democratic National Committee’s Rules & Bylaws Committee will meet on Saturday May 31, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Rules and Bylaws Committee will consider the two challenges that have been filed pursuant to Rule 20.B of the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules and Regulation 3 of the Regulations of the Rules and Bylaws Committee concerning the seating of delegations from Florida and Michigan.

Pursuant to Section 3.4(N) of the Committee’s Regulations, each challenger will be entitled to present an Oral Argument before the RBC prior to Committee consideration for a period of 15 minutes each. A representative from each state party and from each presidential campaign will also have an opportunity to address the committee regarding each of the challenges. Oral arguments from the parties will be heard during the committee’s morning session. Following a lunch break, committee members will consider and debate the challenges.

Call to Order – Alexis M. Herman and James Roosevelt, Jr., Co-Chairs
Call of the Roll
Old Business
New Business – Two Challenges filed Pursuant to the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules and the Regulations of the Rules & Bylaws Committee.
Challenge concerning Florida filed by Florida DNC member Jon Ausman
Challenge concerning Michigan filed by Michigan State Chair Mark Brewer on behalf of the Michigan Democratic Party
Oral Arguments as directed in the May 20, 2008 Scheduling Order issued by the RBC Co-Chairs
Consideration, Discussion and Action on any Motion(s) with regard to Disposition of challenges. —
I knew it was a Damn Kangaroo Court but now the full picture is starting to emerge. Yet I fear this too is headed for the memory hole; thank you Edge for keepin’ on keepin’ on!

This really ought to be a delicacy for a true investigating journalist to set his/her teeth into.

And not to diminish the work of this and other blogs, whose tireless work to untangle the machinations of politics I greatly admire. I just wish more people than bloggers would get a chance to read about it.

this Jem from Little Jimmy Roosevelt’s Boston Globe piece brought a tear to my eye: “I was privileged to be a part of the evening. While I have been to the White House before, I always get a special, hard-to-describe feeling when I am there—it is the Peoples’ House. Just as the president must do, there is something about being there that makes me think about the needs of the country and the responsibilities we have for each other as fellow citizens. It is profound and humbling.”
-I’m gonna be sick now.

The James Roosevelt in the article helped kill the catastrophic care bill that Reagan actually got passed…regardless of the merits of the law, it was an engineered attack on it, which sounds eerily like what Republicans usually do: see last paragraph,
(“…high-pressure fund-raising techniques and alarmist pronouncements–the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, headed by former Rep. James Roosevelt (D-Calif.).”)

“Proponents mistakenly assumed that a limited package of benefits would command almost as much appeal as the comprehensive one actually sought by the elderly but rejected by federal officials as too costly.

Reagan, who proposed a catastrophic care plan, misgauged the impact of insisting that users of the new Medicare program be required to pay for all of it.

Congressional Democrats, given a rare recent opportunity to expand a social program, added sweeteners to Reagan’s plan and paid for them with a financing scheme that was intended to hit the rich harder than the poor but that also stung the bulk of middle-income elderly.

Despite terming the catastrophic care plan inadequate, the American Assn. of Retired Persons lent strong support to it because it contained enticing new drug benefits–benefits that helped not only the elderly, critics say, but also the lobbying group itself, which is a major drug marketer.

Congress did not take seriously a flood of mail opposing the bill because the outpouring was prompted by a group widely criticized for its high-pressure fund-raising techniques and alarmist pronouncements–the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, headed by former Rep. James Roosevelt (D-Calif.).”

Roosevelt’s Grandson Leads Social Security Anniversary Celebration
WASHINGTON – AUGUST 12: (L-R) William Halter, former Deputy and Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Winnie Pineo, former union organizer and Social Security supporter; James Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Rooselvet’s grandson and a former associate commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), pose next to one of the statues of FDR at the FDR Memorial in West Potomac Park August 12, 2005 in Washington, DC. James Roosevelt, FDR’s grandson and a former associate commissioner of the Social Security Administration, joined Americans United to Protect Social Security for a ceremony to kick off nationwide celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Social Security at the memorial.

*****

So, the one who used typical GOP tactics to undo catastrophic coverage about 20 years ago was the son of FDR, and the Tufts/Obama Roosevelt is the grandson….